No, sorry, I won't watch this video. It's already horrible in my mind, I don't want to see for real.

This would have more of impact if it was about lobbying for reforms in the chicken industry rather than proselytizing about veganism.

I think you pretty much have to have no soul to do that job. Man if they would make non meat stuff taste better I would drop it instantly.

mmm....chicken.

BBQ. my house. 8pm.

heartless? maybe. tasty? most definitely.

@ianmac47: Same here. I'm not easily offended, but this one I just can't click play.

This is your high cost of cheap poultry and eggs.

Why is there no way to unsee things?

@TheMugs: +1

@ianmac47: exactly.

If schools did field trips to a slaughterhouse/chicken factory the way they do field trips to the bakery we'd all be vegetarians within 1 generation.

The company is correct, that it is a "standard industry practice". Anyone remember the video of Governor Palin with them killing turkeys in the background?

@mac-phisto: I hate chickens with a passion, have dedicated most of my life to eating as much of those sons a bitches as I can and even I think that's a bit cruel. Can't they raise them to be a bit bigger, THEN slaughter them for our ravenous appetites? Chicken, rooster... tastes all the same to me!

Fuckin' A I'll be there at 7:30, with the "pork" and beans.

(cue the next story about grinding up lil piggies)

@TheMugs: I want to go home and cuddle with my cat now.

I will not watch, but seriously there is no way to "put them asleep" or something? This is just fucked up that someone would even post this online.

@albokay:

I think it would be more accurate to say you have to have no high school diploma/g.e.d. or U.S. citizenship to do that job.

I'd also like to know where the grind off goes. Do they mix it into the feed or does it go to fertilizer?

@ianmac47: agreed. i made the mistake of clicking play. now i want to crawl under my desk and cry. but i still don't want to become a vegan. i like omelettes and bacon. still though, why can't they humanely euthanize the chicks that aren't "acceptable"?

There are three ways to respond to things like this:

1. OMG, this is horrible. What's for lunch? Chicken nuggets..? Ew...

2. CHICK PATTIES FOR EVERYONE! Where's the barbecue sauce?

3. Forget you ever saw it and pretend it has no relation whatsoever to your chicken caesar salad.

@gqcarrick:

They claim that the grinder is "instant euthanasia" and just as humane as injecting them to put them to sleep.

I'd like to know which one of them (the people in charge) got into the grinder to test this theory.

Why don't they raise the males to be chicken meat? Or do they kill two birds with one stone by turning egg-layers into meat after they're done producing?

@gqcarrick: Man, that humane stuff costs money. Besides have you seen what they do to the ones people actually eat?

@TCinIowa: That video was just the right amount of "out of focus" for it to be hilarious. Not this one I imagine. I refuse to watch it.

Not for nothing, but food is thrown away AFTER it's been processed as well because it's not fit for consumption then.

Yes, please Conagra. Double the price of your food so you can keep the male chicks alive. While your at it, triple it so that hens that are no long laying eggs and can't be processed for food are allowed to retire and live in luxury.

I'm with mac-phisto - damn good eating! I'd wouldn't mind going to a slaughter house. Thus, I can go there, see how my food is made, and walk out and yell at vegans/PETA, etc. - "Yes, I have been to the slaughter house. And yet a burger still tastes better than eating a salad every night!"

Five Guys for dinner tonight, chicken for lunch tomorrow!

Not to be a dick or anything, but this really doesn't bother me that much. I mean sure it's kinda brutal but it seems like a fairly quick death. Is there really a humane way to slaughter that many animals let alone do it cost effectively? The beak cutting also prevents the chickens from pecking the shit out of each other later in life. The only thing that kinda bothered me was the ones getting put in the washer but they showed a whole 2 examples of it out of thousands upon thousands of chicks. It strikes me as a bit sensationalist.

The moral of the story is the meat industry is a necessarily depressing one. Something's gotta give if meat is to be cheaply available.

Another example of sensationalizing animal death. It's totally cool if it's a rat or insect, and you do it by dehydrating them slowly with poison--but if it's a chick, heavens no!

At least these deaths are near instant. Small consolation, for some, but vegetarian diet based animal deaths are just as gruesome.

@ianmac47: I find the notion of regulating meat production to make the process of killing vaguely better rather comical. In the end the creature is still dead whether or not it squawked while dying or not. And it tastes the same -- and that's what matters, right? I fail to see why killing something humanely is better than killing it at all when the killing is ultimately wholly unnecessary.

If you offered me three choices:

1. Die painfully.
2. Die peacefully.
3. Not die.

I would pick 3. And personally, I pass that on to other living creatures. Whatever, call it preaching if you want.

@TCinIowa: Dog food. Also: Cat food. Gotta be a better way to kill 'em all instantly. More blades (to avoid survivors) could be difficult to clean, though there is a lot of room where that would be a fair trade-off. Adding gas would potentially contaminate the dog food. Removing gas -- asfixiating them -- would make them all suffer longer but possibly reduce the number who survive in horrible pain; or would it? And who is going to build a chick gas chamber?

How was this done -- and it was -- in times past? Does someone in the industry have a better solution? Might they be selling it, perhaps by promoting this view of the alternative?

Somehow they missed that part on "How It's Made". Next Week: the hot dog factory!

@TCinIowa: I'm guessing it goes as raw protein for animal feed (think "dog food", not "cow food").

Is this the same vid that was posted recently? If so, can we pass a bill to prevent the blogs from posting the same depressing content within 30 days unless there are some real developments on the story? It is about time our socio-facist mixed race democratically elected nazi totalitarian puppet president got some real work done, instead of playing around with things that no one cares about - like health care, economy and wars.

Also, Obama, while you are at it, please socialize dating. I am tired of being single.

[On second thoughts, I do not thing I want government rationed bureaucratic dates.]

@krom:
Popcorn chicken?

@MostlyHarmless: fraking spelling mistakes.

should read:

"[On second thoughts, I do not think I want government rationed bureaucratic dates.]"

@nytmare: That's what I was wondering, too.

@AreYouConfusedYet?HowAboutNow?: I think you're looking for the "Jaeger" section of your local liquor store.

@nytmare: The article said that males didn't grow large fast enough to be profitably sold for meat.

@nytmare: Roosters are fiercely territorial. They would have to be alloted a lot of individual space or else they fight savagely. It's not even feasible to raise roosters "free range" because of the amount of space they need.

Hens can be raised in groups.

@Deezul_AwT: Raising roosters wouldn't double the cost of chicken, it would raise it twenty times over. Roosters are territorial and have to be separated and given a lot of room or else they fight (often savagely).

Hens can be raised in groups. Even organic free range "cruelty free" farms will generally only raise hens.

@itiswhatitis: Yeah, I learned my lesson about clicking on gruesome videos yesterday (thanks, Facebook).

@nytmare: Because cocks are extremely aggressive and will fertilize the eggs of hens. Can't keep males together, can't keep them with females... they won't bother with the expense of housing them separately for what ultimately would be a small bird with poor meat yield.

@BigFoot_Pete:
To paraphrase Denis Leary. Why is it animal activists are only REALLY interested in saving the cute animals?

The only way for male chicks not to be killed upon birth is if everyone reduces their egg consumption to like a maybe a dozen eggs a year or so, or, better yet, don't eat them.

All people should see how their food is produced and then logically or emotionally (or both) figure out where their ethics and morals are and change their actions based on their beliefs.

The ground up chicks are used in dog food and fertilizer fyi.

Do you all who eat meat actually care that this happens? It's not like this is worse than being killed for meat (after having lived a horrible horrible life natch).

@nytmare: I don't feel like watching the video again, but I think they explain that the males take too long and use too many resources to grow to consumable size.

I saw the title and thought "that sounds like something Carrie McLaren would post." Oh look, I was right.

Yeah I'll pass on watching the video. Thanks anyway.

@Verucalise(wantsherfigureback): actually, i think the factory farm documentary is worse - [www.hbo.com]

had me seriously thinking about whether i should keep eating pork, but then my tenderloins were done & they smelled so good i had to nom them.

preview: [www.youtube.com]

(preview has none of the really disturbing footage the actual movie has, like when they're hanging downers from a forklift).

so...chicken & ribs?

crap, now i'm hungry :(

@MaytagRepairman: There HAS been a How it's Made about Hot Dogs. I watched it. Made me hungry.

@Deezul_AwT: The male chicks can be fit for consumption if they're kept alive. Apparently they're not profitable. It seems like they should have some side business to get rid of the male chicks humanely.

@CrunchBite: Aside from my initial knee-jerk reaction I think my main surprise is hearing that there's no real use for the male chicks. It just seems wasteful to me, I guess I figured you could eat them as you would the females. That said, I couldn't think of a more instantaneous way to kill them faster than a grinder, the animal lover in me is cringing but I mean really, what else would you do?

"The moral of the story is the meat industry is a necessarily depressing one."

Truth. I've watched the "expose" type documentaries and although I'm horrified I feel like I really don't have many other options. I like meat, I like animals. The two don't necessarily go together but I haven't been successful with changing my diet. Reality sucks sometimes.

Thats insane...

@krom: Actually, fear makes the meat more savory. Adds a certain piquance.